Local News in Brief : Social Workers to Be Hired

Hoping to ease the worsening caseloads of children’s social workers, Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday approved the hiring of additional employees this summer to work with abused and neglected children.

The board, in a unanimous vote, gave the go-ahead to Robert Chaffee, director of the Department of Children’s Services, to fill any new vacancies in his agency as a result of attrition and to add more social workers in July when the county is expected to receive additional federal funds. Chaffee said he expects to add about 150 more workers after July 1.

Children’s service workers and their union, Service Employees International Union Local 535, had pressed the board for more employees after complaining that the number of cases they handle are double or triple the county standard.

Presently, the department has about 1,200 children’s workers who handle adoptions and work with abused and neglected children. Some employees had threatened to refuse more cases unless more workers were hired.